Seven plus seven - that's seven LSU defensive starters and seven Georgia defenders chosen in last April's NFL draft - times two returning senior quarterbacks with bazooka arms and radar lock vision equals the most entertaining Saturday of football ever seen in the 30-game series between the Tigers and the Bulldogs.

After almost 4½ hours, when Mettenberger fired the Tigers' last bullet of the day, an incomplete pass that sailed over the head of Odell Beckham Jr. to seal No. 6 and previously unbeaten LSU's 44-41 loss to No. 9 Georgia in Sanford Stadium, there was nothing left for either team to do but exhale, shake hands, marvel over the crazy shootout and count on a possible rematch in the SEC championship game.

"This was like a fight that went 12 rounds," said Tigers' receiver Jarvis Landry, who along with Beckham, made some of the most insane catches in traffic you've ever seen to keep dead drives alive.

"We knew this was going to be a fight," Georgia quarterback Aaron Murray said, "and we were up to it."

"Two heavyweights going at it, and one of us had to win," said Beckham, his only blemish of the day a third-quarter punt he muffed that Georgia converted into a touchdown.

In an offensive battle royale that featured a combined 943 yards, 50 first downs, seven TD passes and just two turnovers despite the brutal hitting, the margin of victory was subtle.

It was because the Bulldogs had a slightly better balanced offense, forcing LSU's defense to respect Georgia's run and giving the Bulldogs' Murray time and space to find way wide-open receivers.

Georgia managed to rush for 196 yards, and that was largely without stud thoroughbred Todd Gurley. Gurley, the SEC's leading rusher, departed in the second quarter with a sprained left ankle after gaining 73 yards on eight carries.

The Bulldogs stuck in backup Keith Marshall, and didn't miss a beat, since Marshall almost cracked 100 yards (96 yards on 20 carries).

LSU tried to match the Bulldogs' run game. Jeremy Hill had to work hard to get his 86 yards and a TD because Georgia cranked its run blitz to another level to get the job done.

"I didn't think we'd be able to slow down their run like we did," Richt said.

Even so, LSU kept coming, because Mettenberger played his rear end off. For all the ballyhoo about the Georgia native's homecoming, returning to face the program that tossed him off the team in the spring of 2010 for an off-the-field arrest, he was spot-on throwing for a career-high 372 yards and three TDs.

"Did a lot of good things, but not enough to win," said Mett, who completed seven third-down passes for either first downs and/or touchdowns, including a 25-yard dart to Beckham on third-and-22 from the LSU 13 on the Tigers' final TD drive of the day.

But as great as Mettenberger performed, Murray, Mett's one-time Georgia teammate and QB competition - was ridiculous.

Time and again, he dissected LSU's young and clueless secondary. On both of his second-half TD's including his game-winning 25-yard scoring strike to Justin Scott Wesley with 1:47 left to play, he took advantage of coverage busts by Tigers' DBs.

Murray started his 45th consecutive game - that's every contest of his college career, and something some of the greatest QBs in SEC history never did.

On the other side of the ball, the Tigers' defense had at least four to five players who had never played a down before in a conference road game. You could tell that after each Murray TD when LSU defenders jabbered at each other trying to understand who blew the coverage.

So in that sense, it wasn't a fair fight. That's fact, not an excuse.

But even LSU coach Les Miles knows as brilliant as he expected Murray to be, his defense has to accelerate its growth if the 4-1 Tigers hope to win their next four games prior to the Nov. 9 showdown at No. 1 Alabama.

"If we don't improve, we won't have a chance of reaching our goals," Miles said. "I think our defense will come and play like Tigers. They always have."

They must, because like last year when LSU lost to Florida in game six, the Tigers understand they have no wiggle room, no remaining margin of error if they want to win the league title and have a shot at the national championship game.

If the voters are fair on Sunday, LSU should flip positions with Georgia and fall no farther than No. 9 in the AP and coaches' polls.

"We can't get down, there's a whole lotta season ahead for us," Hill said. "College football is a crazy game."

How crazy?

Until Saturday, the 1,189th game in LSU's football history, the Tigers had never been in a shootout where both teams scored 40 or more points in regulation.

It's not a piece of history, as Miles might say, that his team "would enjoy." If anything, it's a challenge not to let it ever happen again, and it starts next Saturday with the expected crescendo of cowbells at Mississippi State.

"Just gotta win the rest," said Mettenberger, a man of few words, fewer interceptions and a boatload of TD passes.